Maharashtra failed to file a request in the Supreme Court to postpone local body elections

Due to major conflicts with the bureaucracy, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government failed to file a case in the Supreme Court on Wednesday requesting a postponement of the local elections set for December 21. After the Supreme Court put a stay on the ordinance giving a 27 percent quota for OBCs in local governments, the administration was resolved to continue through with the application.

 

In their jurisdiction, elections will be placed in 105 Nagar Panchayats, Bhandara and Gondia Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis, and 4,554 Gram Panchayats. Polling in Non-OBC seats in these local bodies will go place as scheduled, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).

 

"The government had decided to file an application on Wednesday," a senior MVA minister said, "but the Rural Development Department Secretary refused to sign it, citing that the government should make its case for lifting the stay on the OBC community's 27 percent quota in local bodies during the next hearing on December 13." The secretary questioned how the state government could proceed with an application for an election delay.

 

MVA partners, on the other hand, raised the issue with the Cabinet and requested that the Secretary sign the application. The government had not filed the application as of Wednesday evening, but it is expected to be done on Thursday after the Cabinet directed the secretary to sign it. The government will also file an intervention petition, requesting that the elections be postponed or that polling be allowed in OBC wards.

 

Ironically, the state's urban development agency has taken no steps to protect the OBC quota of 27 percent in Municipal Corporations and Municipalities. After presenting a strong argument for the postponement of local body elections during the Cabinet meeting, Maharashtra's Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Chhagan Bhujbal, headed for Delhi. "During my stay, I will meet with lawyers and discuss the set of arguments that will be presented in the Supreme Court's next hearing." He went on to say that the government would ask for a postponement.

 

 

Image Courtesy: Twitter @CMOMaharashtra